Dinotopia: Legacy
by N. Huebel
Summary: Charlie Denison crashes on Dinotopia, after trying to find answers to how his Great Great Uncle Arthur, and his Great Uncle Will went missing, but washes up on the shores of Dinotopia.
1. Forward: From Arthur Denison's Journal

I have read Will's notes, and I smile at the transformation they reveal. When I left him, he was a boy. He entered the library door a young man. Seeing Will and Sylvia both wearing the uniform of a Skybax Rider fills me with a father's pride. Will has the furrowed brow and the square shoulders of a man of purpose. And from the little glances they exchange, Will and Sylvia have become friends who respect - and love - each other. Have I changed as well? Perhaps so. My friends from the dear old world we left long ago on the wharf in Boston - those fellows surely would wag their heads at me. But I wonder if I shall ever see their faces again. No matter. Our old life was richly rewarding, an I am grateful to it. But here on Dinotopia my eyes have been opened to the wonders of a new world. Seeing with fresh eyes has rejuvenated me. I find enormous enthusiasm filling my mind. Nallab has given me a simple studio overlooking the falls, a home for my spiral pocket watch, my plumes and pencils, my maps, my designs - and most of all my recent field notes, which at the moment are in disarray, having been made under difficult circumstances in the World Beneath. There is a lifetime - a long lifetime - of work to do here. I cannot start soon enough.


	2. Chapter 1: Charlie

Charlie Denison sat in his room, a boy at the age of 15, reading through an old, weather beaten, yellowed book. On his wall, there were picture frames, holding plant samples that were originally pressed in between the pages of the journal, but now, they sat on top of his shelf, or hanging on the wall. The plant samples were gingko leaves, large maple leaves, and an odd little plant that he always thought had some sort of value, because it was completely new, and unknown. It was in a special page of the book, and it was referred to as _Arctium Longevus_. Charlie had read about what it could do in the journal, and he had gotten seeds from the plant, and was growing a few more samples in some pots on his bookshelf. A man in his mid thirties walked into Charlie's room. "Charlie, it's time for dinner." He said. He wasn't really Charlie's father. He was his foster parent. Charlie's actual parents had died in a boating accident several years earlier. Charlie got up, and walked downstairs to the dinner table. He sat down, and started to eat. His foster dad, Bart, sat down, and said, "So, reading that journal again? Don't you think it's getting a bit repetitive?" Charlie said, "Well, yeah I guess. But it was written by my great, great uncle. It's pretty much the only connection to my family that I have." Bart said, "Yes, but you actually believe this stuff? I mean, come on, a plant that can make you live for 250 years?" Charlie said "Have you seen any plant that looks like it? We sent a sample to a botanist, and it was supposed to have gone extinct 65 million years ago." Bart said, "Yes, but same with that fish, a Ceela..a Caleo..." Charlie was also a dinosaur nut, so Bart knew a thing or two about prehistory. Charlie said, "Coelacanth." The Coelacanth was a type of fish that was supposed to have gone extinct with the dinosaurs, until one was fished up out of the ocean in the thirties. Bart snapped his fingers and said, "Yeah, coelacanth. What makes you think the plant is any-" And the debate was on. Bart wasn't being hostile. It was actually more like a game to Charlie and Bart. They enjoyed their little debates. Bart always won out, though. Not because Charlie's opinion was unfounded, but because everything he knew about the place that he had paid so much attention to, was in that little journal. Dinotopia. It was supposed to be a hidden island in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by a huge storm, where sailors from every place and time would wash up, to find a Utopia, where humans and dinosaurs coexisted in harmony. Charlie believed it. The proof of at least the plant life was pressed in between the pages of that little book. He also had a friend who happened to be a captain of a boat, and they were planning to go to where Arthur Denison's ship supposedly crashed. They had an ROV, a Remote Operated Vehicle, which would go down below the ocean, and send a live feed to a computer on the ship. They would head for the place the very next day.

* * *

Charlie walked to the harbor in Port Michael, California. He walked along the docks, until he came to the boat he was looking for, the _Venturer II_. It was named after Arthur Denison's boat, the _Venturer. _A man in his mid thirties walked out. Captain James Fletcher. Fletcher smiled, and said, "Ah, Charlie! Ready to head out?" After they left, they travelled for a few hours, and they got to the coordinates where the Venturer supposedly crashed. Fletcher said, "Alright, Charlie, I'll get the ROV ready. You make sure the computer is in working order." Charlie got on the computer, opened the program, checked the operators, and made sure they were functioning right. Then they sent down the ROV. Charlie operated the robot with the laptop, and started making his way across the ocean floor. After about an hour, they found a bit of wood on the ocean floor. The ROV picked it up, and shook off all of the dust collected on it. Charlie's eyes widened, as the dust shook off, to reveal the word, faded though it may have been, **Venturer.**


	3. Chapter 2: Shipwrecked

As Charlie and Captain Fletcher looked at the piece of wood, hardly believing what was written on it, they hardly noticed the wind picking up, and the waves getting bigger. Soon, they realized the raindrops, and before they had any time to react, they were being thrown around in a huge storm, not knowing which way was away from the mainland. As their ship rocked around, Fletcher tried to turn the boat around, saying, "Charlie! Get below deck!" But before Charlie could get in the cabin, he saw a huge wave coming up from behind them, and it picked up the boat, and flipped it over. The last thing he saw before going unconscious was the choppy, cold, salty water, heading straight for him, and then blackness. He woke up, and oddly enough, he was still on the water, but he was moving at a surprising speed, heading for a small island. He looked down, and saw that he was riding on the back of a dolphin. He looked to his left, and saw an unconscious Captain Fletcher, also on a dolphin's back. The dolphins were trying to bring them to shore. Charlie, tired as he was, decided to let the creatures help them out, and Charlie fell asleep, from pure fatigue.

* * *

Charlie awoke to Fletcher shaking him, saying, "Charlie! You in there?" Charlie got up, and rubbed his head. Charlie looked around. He searched himself. His eyes widened. "The journal. Where's the journal?" Charlie started looking around furiously. Fletcher said, "Why do we need it so badly?" Charlie said, "The place where Uncle Arthur crashed, the storm, the dolphins, the island, it all makes perfect sense now! We're on Dinotopia!" Fletcher said, "What makes you think this place is inhabited by-" He was cut off by some odd noises from the bushes. The bushes began to rustle. Fletcher reached for a broken piece of wood, but Charlie said, "No! Wait!" Fletcher reluctantly put it down. The bushes rustled a bit more, and then out of the bushes poked a tiny little head, with large beady eyes. It looked like a duck, and about the same size, too, but it was dark green, with a red stripe running down the middle of it's head, scaly, and it had an odd protrusion on the back of it's head. If Fletcher wasn't already having a bad day, he would have thought the little animal was cute. The small creature reluctantly came out of hiding, and it had small forelimbs, and strong legs, occasionally walking on all fours. It stood up, balancing on it's thick tail. Charlie and Fletcher's eyes widened. Fletcher said, "Charlie, Is that a..." "Dinosaur." Charlie said. "A dinosaur. An actual Parasaurolophus!" Fletcher said, "Is that as big as it gets?" Charlie shook his head. "No, it's only a baby. The adults get to be-" Charlie was cut off as a large, 18 foot tall version of the baby walked out of the bushes, and walked up to Charlie. Charlie said, "About that size." The creature had a longer crest on the back of it's head. It stared at Charlie, sniffed him, then held out one of it's small hands, and said something in a language that Charlie had never heard before. But Charlie knew what the animal was saying. Charlie held out his hand, and said, "Breathe deep, seek peace." Fletcher watched, dumbfounded, as the creature began to speak in a completely new language. Charlie said, "Me and my friend were shipwrecked. Can you help us?" The Parasaurolophus nodded her head, giving her an oddly intelligent appearance, almost as if she understood Charlie. The animal turned around, and crouched down on the ground. Charlie knew what she wanted. Charlie hopped on her back, and said, "Come on, Fletcher!" Fletcher walked up to the animal, unsure of what to do. Charlie turned, and saw a small brown thing washed up on shore. The journal! He quickly ran over to get it, then got back on her back. The animal walked down a trodden path through the forest, with the infant following close behind. the Parasaurolophus, much to the surprise of both Charlie and Fletcher, began to speak in a very strained english. She was trying to make it as easy as possible for them. She said, very crudely, the words, "My n-name Aulora. Yoour name?" Fletcher said, "Did that dinosaur just _talk?_" Charlie nodded. He said, "Yeah. She can understand english, but she has a hard time trying to speak it." He then turned to the Aulora, and said, "This is my friend, James Fletcher. My name is Charlie Denison." Aulora stopped, then gazed, awestruck at Charlie. She then turned forward again, and began to run. Whatever Charlie had said, it had put Aulora in a huge hurry. The infant was keeping up nicely, it's small, yet muscular legs gave it serious speed. Charlie said, "Whoah! What's the hurry?" Aulora crashed out of the bushes, and ran up to an odd little building. There were infant dinosaurs running around it, and oviraptors wheeling carts of eggs. Fletcher said, 'Where is this?" Charlie recognized it instantly from the journal. They were at the hatchery.


	4. Chapter 3: Family

Aulora ran into the hatchery. She quickly crouched down, and once Charlie and Fletcher hopped off, Aulora stopped to take a breath. A girl, about Charlie's age, walked through the door. She walked up to Aulora, and began to speak to her in her native tongue. The conversation went something like this:

"Breathe deep, seek peace, Aulora."  
"Breathe Deep, seek peace. I have very urgent news."

"What is it?"

"These newcomers. The youngest one knew our Dinotopian greeting!"

"...Are you sure?"  
"Absolutely. But more than that. The younger one...he says his name is Charlie...he is a Denison!"

There was a long silence. The girl ran up to Charlie. She said,

"You are a Denison?" Charlie said, "Yeah, why?" The girl said, "What is your ancestry?" Charlie said, "Ok, let's see...my biological parents died in a boating accident, but before that, there was my grandpa Bert, my great grandpa James, my great, great, grandpa John, and his brother Arthur-" the girl stopped him there, saying, "Your Great, Great, Uncle was Arthur Denison?" Charlie nodded, not sure what to make of the excitement over his ancestry. The girl smiled, then hugged him, and said, "My name is Alexis. Arthur Denison is my Great, great, grandfather! We're cousins!"

* * *

The excitement that followed was hardly unfounded. Before he got here, Charlie was the only Denison alive, and now, he found family. Him and Alexis talked for most of the day, Alexis asking Charlie questions about the outside world, and Charlie asking Alexis about Dinotopia. Charlie and Fletcher then met Charlie's Aunt and Uncle, where they warmly greeted them, and gave them a meal to eat, consisting of fruits and vegetables grown from the Hatchery's garden. Charlie and Fletcher, having just survived a shipwreck, had just realized how hungry they were, and all of the food was gone within five minutes. Then Alexis showed Charlie and Fletcher the hatchery. "This little guy-" She said, gesturing to an egg, about four times as large a a chicken egg, "Is probably about to hatch. Put your ear up to the egg." Charlie and Fletcher put their ear up to the egg. From inside, they heard tiny squeaking noises. Alexis said, "The squeaking means it's going to hatch soon. It's been squeaking for almost all day now-" The egg cracked. Alexis smiled as Charlie and Fletcher stared in awe at the small head poking out of the egg. It was small, and short, with a hump on top, where the nostrils were. The head was attached to a long neck, that slowly came out of the egg, and Fletcher reached out to help it out, but Alexis stopped him. She said, "The babies need to expend effort on breaking out of the egg. It helps development." Fletcher watched as the hatchling turned the egg side ways, and slowly cracked the egg with a small, yet relatively powerful forelimb, and managed to crawl out of the egg. It walked on all fours, with it's feet round, like elephant's feet. Alexis said, "So _that's _what it was! A Brachiosaurus! Don't touch it, the first thing it can come into contact with is the original mother. I'll go get her." Alexis left the room, running. Charlie said, "I can't believe this is actually happening! I can't wait to get to Waterfall City, it's going to be great!" Fletcher said, "Waterfall City?" Charlie said, "Oh, yeah, it's where you register. Anyhoo, I-" Fletcher said, "Whoah, whoa, wait, register? I'm sorry, Charlie, but we need to get off this island, and back to the mainland." Charlie looked at Fletcher as if he was crazy. Charlie said, "Leave? Look, Fletcher, sorry to disappoint, but once you're on Dinotopia, there is no 'Leaving'. The storm is impossible to navigate, and the Razor Reef will cut you into three pieces." Fletcher said, "Well, we need to try! I mean, is this where you want to spend the rest of your life?" Charlie said, "Yes. Absolutely. Aside from the fact that this place is perfect, peaceful, etc., I actually have _family _here! Before I came here, I was the only Denison on the planet, and now, I have kin here! I know we just got here, but with what I've seen, I'm never going to go back." Fletcher said, "Everything you know is out there! This place works completely differently from the outside world, and I don't know if you're prepared! If you can prove to me that you're prepared, fine! Stay! Don't let me stop you!" Charlie held up the Journal. Charlie said, "Ask me anything." Fletcher said, "Travel." Charlie said, "Bracks. Duh." Fletcher said, "Jobs." Charlie said, "Plenty. Blacksmith, Archaeologist, Skybax Patrol-" Fletcher said, "Skybax?" Charlie sighed. He said, "You know what?" Charlie handed Fletcher the journal. He said, "There's nothing in here I don't already know. Read it, think about it, use it, refer to it for answers about this place. You'll be fine." Fletcher took it, looked at it. The sighed and said, "Fine. We'll see if this place is as perfect as you say."


	5. Chapter 4: The Rainy Basin

Charlie and Fletcher waited for Alexis to return, and she finally walked through the door, but with no mother Brachiosaurus. Fletcher said, "Where's the baby's mom?" Alexis pointed to the open ceiling. A huge version of the baby towered over them. Fletcher nearly fell backwards, and Charlie just smiled, awestruck. The large Brachiosaur craned it's neck down towards the baby, and rubbed it's snout against it's tiny torso. Alexis then took the baby outside to his mother.

* * *

The next day, Alexis woke Charlie up, saying, "Get up! You need to prepare for the trip!" Charlie slept for another moment, then realized they had to go to Waterfall City to register, and then shot up out of bed, as if he had coffee before bed, and it had just started to take effect. After a breakfast of vegetables from the hatchery's garden, Alexis' mother approached Alexis, and said, "Alexis, I am going to send you and Aulora to accompany your cousin. I expect you to be responsible. You know what to do if you encounter a Tyrannosaur, right?" Alexis nodded. Her mother smiled. She hugged her, and said, "I hope you have a good trip." Charlie ran into the doorway. "Morning, Aunt Romana. When should we be on our way?". Romana said, "This evening. Be sure to pack your things." Charlie said, "All I even brought with me are the clothes on my back, and the journal. I don't have to worry." Fletcher walked by Charlie groggily. Charlie asked, "Tired?" Fletcher nodded, and said, "I spent half of last night reading that journal you gave me." Charlie smiled and said, "And...?" Fletcher said, "If the journal is right, this place is...something I could get used to." Alexis walked with Aulora, Fletcher, and Charlie down the road, leading away from the Hatchery. Romana, and her husband David, waved goodbye to them as they left. Fletcher said, "So, are we going to walk all the way to Waterfall City, or...?" Alexis said, "No. We're walking to Pooktook, which is about 5 hours from here. Then, we'll take a bus through The Rainy Basin, and arrive at Waterfall City. There's outposts along the way, so we won't need to worry about food."

* * *

After about 2 hours, it got dark. They began to get tired, so they got on Aulora's back to rest. Fletcher dozed off for a while, and he woke up as they approached the a large city, lit up fantastically in the night. Pooktook. When they got off of Aulora, she found an inn to rest in, and as she rested, the others took a walk around Pooktook. They ate at a restaurant, and as they ate, there was an old man in the corner, eating. Charlie thought there was something about the man he just couldn't put his foot on, but he just shrugged it off, and kept eating. The man took a look at Alexis, and smiled. He got up and walked over, limping, and resting some of his weight on a cane, and said, "Now, what's my wonderful granddaughter doing in Pooktook?" Alexis looked up, and said, "Grandfather!" She got up and hugged him, and said, "Fletcher, Charlie, this is Arthur Denison." Fletcher looked at Charlie, shocked, and Charlie looked at Arthur, also shocked. Charlie grinned from ear to ear, and said, "Pleased to finally meet you in person. My name is Charlie Denison. I'm your great-great nephew." Charlie got up, and shook the amazed old man's hand. Charlie said, "OH, yeah, I think this is yours." Charlie grabbed the journal, and handed it to Arthur. Arthur held the book, and just stared at it. He didn't say a word. He just stared. Then he grinned, and gave Charlie a hug. Charlie said, "By the way, where are Will and Sylvia at? How did they turn out?" Arthur said, "Will and Sylvia got married about...oh, I'd say 80 years back. Will became Squadron Leader of the Skybax patrol. Something to make a father proud." Alexis said, "Well, we're heading to Waterfall City to get Charlie and Fletcher registered." Arthur smiled, and said, "That's exactly where I'm going! I just finished my study of that find in Volcaneum, and I was about to go back to give my report. I'm going to be on the next bus to Waterfall City." After they left the building, there was a commotion, and several huge things flew over the buildings of Pooktook, and flew southwest. Charlie said, "Were those Skybax?" Arthur nodded, and said, "Yes. They're heading in the direction of Waterfall City, they must have just finished up an assignment. Now, Alexis, let's go get Aulora, and get on the bus."

* * *

The Brachiosaurus stood there, armor being lowered onto it's back and neck, and people climbing into the compartment on it's back. A man shouted "The bus will be leaving the station in five minutes! The bus will be leaving in five minutes!" They climbed on, and the huge creature lumbered away, off to Waterfall City. On their way, Alexis explained, "We're going to have to go through the Rainy Basin in order to get to Waterfall City. Try not to make too much noise, because we're going to be heading through the Tyrannosaur's domain." Fletcher said, "Then why are we carrying a boatload of raw meat with us?" Alexis said, "To try to get them to leave us alone. If we drop the raw meat, there's a chance that the Tyrannosaurs will go for the easier kill, instead of a giant armored Brachiosaur." As they rode, they noticed that the landscape in front of them was shaped like a large bowl. They walked through the forest in the bowl, and they heard a roar, like nothing any animal would, or for that matter, _should_, ever make. They kept walking, and suddenly, the brachiosaurs began to become agitated, and as they stood still, Charlie could hear large footsteps. First, they were distant, but they became louder and faster, eventually breaking out into a full blown run. A Tyrannosaurus Rex burst through the trees, and bit down on the brachiosaur's armored neck. The Tyrannosaur roared in pain and surprise. The Brachiosaur was fine. Several banana sized teeth fell to the ground. Alexis undid the strings that held the meat to the sides of the bus, and hundreds of pounds of raw meat fell onto the ground. The Tyrannosaurus looked at the Brachiosaurs, then looked at the meat on the ground, decided to go for the easier meal, and began to eat the meat. The Brachiosaurs walked away quickly, before the Rex could finish.


End file.
